Does a Reva G-Wiz fit inside a Ford Transit?

Last month after helping a customer relocate to London, my “Ethic Ranger” friend and some times helper, decided to make the most of the empty van space back to Dublin and in the interest of promoting the use of electric cars in Ireland, put his mind at winning an auction on Ebay for a G-Wiz Reva electric car, his bid was the winner so off he went to the UK in a regular Long Wheel Base, High Roof Transit 350, with two ramps which I usually use for Piano transport and straps in tow.

The same night he won the auction, the car was already posted for sale on some popular Irish classified sites and he had a buyer lined up before he even disembarked back in Dublin. It was probably the best value in its class available in Ireland, after all, this wasn’t a venture for profit, but more for the good of the Earth! To give you an idea, this is the same guy who’s currently on day 15 of a 21 (at least) water fast, that means he’s had nothing for the past 15 days but water! He’s also eaten 70 bananas in one day before and can do a very respectable amount of chin-ups, only using the middle finger of each hand. He can also easily win in a 3 on 1 basketball game with a banana in one hand while dribbling the ball in the other, amongst other things from this Lithuanian farmers son!

The buyer kindly recorded the unloading upon delivery and we got footage of the loading process too. It was a bit low on battery so needed a bit of a push to get up the ramps 🙂

A funny looking car and turns a few heads when driving around, makes people smile and in terms of economy and depending on your usage of course, could be a wise choice of transport for some. Here’s some info pulled from the original advert if any of you are interested in getting your hands on one!

Tax cost 31Eur/year

No need NCT ;

Reva G-WIZ 2006 Automatic Electric Vehicle ( AEV )
it’s quadricycle ( L7E ) category vehicle ;

Right-hand drive;
Automatic;
Regenerative brakes;
CO2 emission 7.2g/km (if Airtricity is provider) ;
Power Locks;
Immobiliser;
Distance central lock w keypad ;
You can Turn on heating from distance with same keypad ;
4seats (2adults + 2kids till 12years);
Black-Grey Leather seats (95% it’s not a real leather, so suits for Vegans);
Weight 665kg (395kg car and 270kg batteries )
Load capacity including passangers is 270kg also ;
Length: 2640mm (Smart For Two is 2500mm), Width 1320mm

In UK, they are very popular, in London some places exempt from parking, exempt from taxes and can be charged for free;

This is best selling electric car in the world so far;

REVA has a safety record second to none, with over 80 million miles driven by customers globally and over 4,000 years of ownership with one reported serious injury (As on January 2011) ;

Cost 1.85Eur of electricity/100 km to drive
(or cheaper at home… Depending on your electricity rate it can be as cheap as 1p a mile to run. At todays petrol prices thats the equivalent of nearly 600mpg, yes you did read that right! ) ;

If you driving an average 1000 miles/month with ~6.5L/100km, it can save you 130Eur/month ; So it pays out very quickly.
Also imagine 110Litre (22pcs of 5L canisters) in your room, that’s amount of petrol will be burnt EVERY MONTH.
Crazy on what we voting our money!

Plus another 20-40Eur/month saving for cheaper Taxes, No NCT needed and cheaper insurance
( All REVA’s are Group 1, the lowest price insurance group. Ask me for advice, where to insure, i called 15 companies in May’2011 ) ;

So easy 150Eur/month saving.

Need 8 hours charging to full ;

Since the REVA does not have an engine, clutch or gears, or a carburator, radiator, exhaust etc, the maintenance cost is low. Estimates show that the maintenance costs of REVA are 40 % lower than that of a small car over a 3-year ownership period.

Speed is up to 67km/h (did myself…manufacturer says up to 70) ;

This can be charged from any normal 13Amp mains socket, charge lead included (standard industrial socket plug in to the car).

It never needs petrol, just a little distilled water to top the batteries up now and again, it is great just driving straight past petrol stations ;

This is as close to free motoring as you can get, its cheaper than the bus or train and definitely cheaper than any car or motorbike ;

For more information: http://www.goingreen.co.uk/

Also Ireland planning to install 3500 charging stations by December 2011